“When it comes to feeling the love from consumers, Apple remains atop the PC heap, while Detroit is pleasing more customers with its cars, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), which is being released today,” John Boudreau reports for The Mercury News.
“Apple slipped 1 percent during the past year, but maintained a 12 percent lead over Dell, one of the largest gaps between first and second place for any industry. Dell’s position remained the same, while Acer’s Gateway brand rose 3 percent in consumer satisfaction. Hewlett-Packard inched up 1 percent and its Compaq division jumped 6 percent,” Boudreau reports.
“Overall consumer sentiment of the PC industry nudged up 1 percent after two years of declines, which had been attributed to user problems with the Windows Vista operating system. The uptick is tied to a decision by notebook makers to swap out Vista with the older Windows XP operating system, said David VanAmburg, managing director of the index, which is based on 10,000 random phone interviews and published by the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business,” Boudreau reports.
MacDailyNews Take: That’s just sad. “WE LOVE OUR ANCIENT EIGHT YEAR-OLD OS (because we’ve never experienced a Mac)!”
Boudreau continues, “He called Apple’s 1 percent drop statistical ‘noise’ that did not mean any shifts in consumer attitudes about the Cupertino-based maker of Macintosh computers, which has enjoyed a large lead over the makers of Windows-based machines for six years. VanAmburg attributed Apple’s long-running success to the quality of its products and the company’s face-to-face interactions with customers through its retail stores.”
MacDailyNews Take: Statistical “noise” that the unscrupulous will nonetheless exploit and trumpet in headlines. We guarandamnteeit.
Full article here.
Erica Ogg reports for CNET, “Apple continues to lead the pack by a mile, with a score of 84. Its next closest competitor, Dell, stands at 75, which was also the average score for all PC makers. HP moved from 73 to 74.”
“With an 11-point [sic] lead, Apple is one of only two companies evaluated by ACSI that dominates its category so totally, according to Claes Fornell, director of the National Quality Research Center at the University of Michigan, which conducts the study,” Ogg reports. “‘It’s unusual in any industry to have a lead like the one Apple has,’ Fornell said.”
His explanation is that compared to others in their respective categories, both are ‘better at marketing what they have to offer to the public,'” Ogg reports.
MacDailyNews Take: True, but that has little or nothing to do with the results. It’s quite simple really: Apple’s Mac offers users significantly superior quality hardware and software. That’s why Apple leads by a mile over the Windows PC box assemblers.
Ogg continues, “That marketing, besides drumming up good feelings in consumers, is also pushing up Apple’s bottom line. The company just recorded its best non-holiday quarter in its history, selling 2.6 million Macs, a 4 percent increase from the same quarter a year ago. PC makers, on average, saw their sales dip 3.1 percent for the same quarter, according to IDC.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take:
Direct link via YouTube here.
Did CNET really just write off Apple’s lead as “better marketing”?
Would they have said that about Toyota leading in the automotive catagory? “Toyota is clearly doing a good job marketing which is why people are so satisfied with their cars”.
I’m a Mac user and I can do math. 84 minus 75 is 9, not 11. I guess they must have used a Vista calculator to figure the difference.
Or did I mis-read and that’s actually a conclusion of the study?
And how can the next closest competitor be at 75% satisfaction, but then have 75% satisfaction also be the AVERAGE of all PC makers? Only if Dell and MULTIPLE manufacturers scored 75% (thus making Dell not the only closest competitor). You need the above to happen just to round up to 75%, so they really must have used the aforementioned Vista calculator.
Thank you RyanC!
“I’m a Mac user and I can do math. 84 minus 75 is 9, not 11. I guess they must have used a Vista calculator to figure the difference.”
I was thinking the same thing.
9, 11 or 12 points? Inconsistency bugs me.
@andintroducing, maybe they’re then basing the averages on how many machines each company sells? Perhaps Dell with a relatively large market share get a higher weighting when calculating the averages? I agree, it seems wrong though, or at least poorly worded. I’m not interested enough to try and find out though.
I love the ad, integrating two spaces for one ad is great. I know this in not their first one, but it shows thinking outside the box. Oh and it’s funny.
Apple does so much after you purchase their products to help you use them to their full potential. When I hear people say “I only use my computer for email and the internet” I tell them that is because that is all you know what to do with it. If you would buy a Mac you would start using your computer more because they will show you how to use it. When people ask me how did I make my photo books I hate to tell them how easy it is in iPhoto.
@ andintroducing,
“And how can the next closest competitor be at 75% satisfaction, but then have 75% satisfaction also be the AVERAGE of all PC makers?”
It’s simple, Apple is also a PC maker.
@Big
And 9% is 12% of 75% .. it does make sense.
MacDailyNews Take: Statistical “noise” that the unscrupulous will nonetheless exploit and trumpet in headlines. We guarandamnteeit.
Well well well, just look at the ZDNet headline:
PC makers make progress closing Apple’s customer satisfaction gap
Really? Isn’t it just a rounding error?
Apple just never stops! This is another clear example of using unfair tactics–quality, consistent focus on the user experience, innovation–to stifle competition! That’s the _real_ reason they’re blocking Psystar–it’s Apple again preventing a crappy company from stealing its innovation and quality. How dare they! And now again tops in customer satisfaction? Obviously no one can compete against quality! Apple is being completely unfair!
MDN word: “return,” as in, “The real Rattymouse will never return.”
Apple declined 1%
PCs went up 2%
Windows 7 is amazing. Wait till it comes out. PC sales will increase a lot. I mean can it get any higher than 90%? lol
Just like it should have been a free upgrade for Vista, so should have Snow Leopard.
Infact, Windows 7 is more of an upgrade for Vista, than is Snow Leopard for Leopard!
The silver lining of this story for Apple-hater GK over at Computerworld is that they dropped a point from last year. This was, to him, the most significant revelation here. At least he’s become consistent with is bias.
Excuse Me!…
“his bias!”
Need more coffee…